Topic: Deregulation

The conversation turns to the 1996 deregulation of the cell phone industry and the lack of pre-market safety testing. Smallstorm describes "microwave hearing" and extreme sensitivity as rising health issues, citing a friend in New York who successfully fought to remove a smart meter. She warns that smart meters ping every few seconds to gather data, transmitting radio waves through power lines not designed for that purpose.

The Foundation for Economic Freedom, a key driver of libertarian ideology, was founded by a Chamber of Commerce executive and funded by major corporations like General Motors and DuPont. This movement was designed to provide a "pseudo-intellectual" rationale for attacking government regulations and labor laws. By framing deregulation as a matter of personal liberty, corporate interests successfully co-opted public sentiment to serve their own financial agendas.

Early legislative actions under the Trump administration included rolling back transparency requirements for oil companies regarding foreign payments and environmental protections. Additionally, new laws allowed telecommunications companies to sell user data, further eroding consumer privacy. These changes are characterized as corporate favors facilitated by the executive branch's appointments, such as Scott Pruitt at the EPA.

The 114th Congress has utilized a strategy of attaching deregulation "nuggets" to essential legislation to ensure they reach the President's desk. Briney points out that the first act of the new Congress involved reauthorizing a terrorism insurance program that included Wall Street deregulation. With the debt ceiling deadline approaching in the summer, she predicts more corporate-friendly provisions will be forced through using the threat of government default.

Judge Jim Gray argues for the abolition of the Department of Energy, claiming the market should determine the best crops for fuel rather than government mandates for corn ethanol. He suggests that hemp is a more efficient source for ethanol production than corn. Additionally, he calls for closing the Bureau of Indian Affairs, describing it as an insulting and duplicative bureaucracy that Native Americans despise.